I mentioned minot ryan and trinity as both being class A for some time, and that one defeating one other wasn't anything special , as they had played each other numerous times,in class A competition, I was using the David and Goliath example when comparing Bowman to Trinity , Bowman has only about 1,500 people , Dickinson city had over 20,000, most students do go to Dickinson High ( home of the Midgets), however Trinity has at least double the amount of students/athletes as Bowman does any given year.

I agree the used to be Class A doesn't mean much. Bowman, Mott, and Hettinger were also Class A at one time. The kids playing for Trinity and Ryan weren't alive the last time they were Class A. It doesn't take anything away from the 06 Bowman team though. They deserve to be on this list.

muledeer wrote:I mentioned minot ryan and trinity as both being class A for some time, and that one defeating one other wasn't anything special , as they had played each other numerous times,in class A competition, I was using the David and Goliath example when comparing Bowman to Trinity , Bowman has only about 1,500 people , Dickinson city had over 20,000, most students do go to Dickinson High ( home of the Midgets), however Trinity has at least double the amount of students/athletes as Bowman does any given year.

About that statement in bold, you can look up anyone's enrollment online. Trinity's current 9-12 enrollment is 166. Bowman's 9-12 enrollment is 139. That doesn't quite seem like "at least double."

It has only been just recently that the two schools numbers have been a bit closer , most catholic schools are going through this decline....Trinity's web site states they have provided a high school since 1961 and have graduated over 3,600 students since then... (about 70) per year, Bowman had those kind of numbers for a few short years in the 70's and 80's, but now have a hard time making 35 per year. The year in discussion (2006) Bowman had a class of 32 students , of which only 14 were boys , the junior class had 20 boys , and most of them weren't in sports , and some were in wrestling, ( don't believe trinity offers wrestling) so they didn't have lot of boys to choose from. Ok, it isn't double but , would you all agree Trinity USUALLY has a higher enrollment than the smaller towns in the area ? Hettinger had only about 20 students just recently for it's graduating class. Bowman's current seniors of 2013, only had 7 girls when they left 8th grade four years ago , some were added now with the oil impact , No ,us, from small towns shouldn't feel like we are playing Goliath when we play a team from Dickinson, no more than when Rhame played Bowman , or Scranton played Hettinger,for those of you who think that way,you would have to be from a small town to understand . Are there any more of my statements, you people on this forum wish to nit pick on?

muledeer wrote:I stand corrected as per the title game , the first games Trinity played were won by scores of 54-36 over former class A Minot bishop Ryan , and 67- 42 over undefeated 26-0 Four Winds , in the title game trinity only shot 5-15 on free throws so the score was closer due to that. Also we are talking about teams that SHOULD have made it to state but didn't.....during the season Bowman defeated Trinity 39-36 ,lost 52-49, and then lost in the regional finals 48-40 but had to foul to try to stay in the game in the last few minutes ( trinity made most their free throws ) ....In my opinion losing two very close games to the state champions on their court ,and beating them once, is no small feat ...

This is off topic but MPCG was actually up by 6 with a couple minutes to go so Trinity actually had to come back to win the championship. To get back on topic, I think the Thompson team of 2001-2002 was one of the best to never make it to state. They were one of the most athletic teams that I have ever seen.

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.-Vincent T. Lombardi

muledeer wrote:I stand corrected as per the title game , the first games Trinity played were won by scores of 54-36 over former class A Minot bishop Ryan , and 67- 42 over undefeated 26-0 Four Winds , in the title game trinity only shot 5-15 on free throws so the score was closer due to that. Also we are talking about teams that SHOULD have made it to state but didn't.....during the season Bowman defeated Trinity 39-36 ,lost 52-49, and then lost in the regional finals 48-40 but had to foul to try to stay in the game in the last few minutes ( trinity made most their free throws ) ....In my opinion losing two very close games to the state champions on their court ,and beating them once, is no small feat ...

This is off topic but MPCG was actually up by 6 with a couple minutes to go so Trinity actually had to come back to win the championship. To get back on topic, I think the Thompson team of 2001-2002 was one of the best to never make it to state. They were one of the most athletic teams that I have ever seen.

Guess I don't see anyone here in support of them either, Trinity was up by 7 pts, but then had a dry spell, where MPCG put on a 13 pt run ,and Trinity made only 5 -15 free throws during the game , I am not a Trinity fan , In my original post I mentioned Bowman, .....had they have been in a different region , and not from the one the eventual state champion came from , they (in my opinion) would have made a good run for the title, and I do think MPCG was a great team as well , if one looks at what they did during the season, I can see why they were in the title game. Both teams doing so well only strengthens my opinion of Bowman. P.S. Go Twins/ Vikings

The question was asked about Bishop Ryan being formerly a class "A" school. That is correct. I don't knowexactly when they went to "B", but I have a "pic" of their team, (known as St. Leo's back in the 50's). My hobby way back then was cutting any type of BB pic out of any paper or magazine and pasting it in a scrapbook. My "pic" of St. Leo's goes back to the early 50's and one of the players on the team was Dale Brownwho went on to coach at LSU and "Shaq" was one of his best players. I also have a "pic" of the ND all state 1950 football team with Roger Maras on it. (Yes it was spelled MARAS and not MARIS). There is a story that explains it, but I won't go into it now.Speaking of class B teams and what they go thru to make it to the "Big Dance", am I the only one who thinksthat the current set-up is the only way to go ? Four teams move up from the District tourney to the Regional, but then only one team, (the Regional Champion), moves on to the State tourney. This seemstotally bogus to me and I would like to see how many would be in favor of a slight change. It would bequite easy to do, but in many cases the "powers that be" are satisfied with the "status quo" and don't wantto rock the boat. How bout the district advancing the champ and runner-up to the regional and then theregional champ and runner-up would advance to the STATE tourney. In this scenario if a real good teamhappens to have an off night in the championship game they wouldn't be totally out of it, kind of like theclass A's. In this way very good teams like Beulah and North Star would have made it. Does anyone outthere have any opinions?

I would love to see that .....I would also like to see what they do in montana , if you lose your first game in state you can still come back and get third....several years have seen number one ranked vs number two ranked in the first round, best that the loser of that first match-up can do is fifth under the current system.

1986 Glen Ullin Rattlers - and it isn't even close. Belfield shot 75% from the field in that year's Region 8 championship game - and beat GU by two points.

To put that game into perspective, the Bantams went 0 for New England that year, having lost to the Tigers 2 or 3 times. Glen Ullin beat NE in the Region 8 semi-finals by 40. In fact, had the South Heart Eagles not lost to New England in a stunning upset in the District 29 championship game, Belfield would have never even BEEN in the Region 8 tournament - they beat South Heart in the "Challenge" game.